Did you know there's a party that might actually be bigger than Carnival?
And it's not in the Americas at all. It's in the Philippines.

It's called the Ati-Atihan festival. It's a week-long event and it takes
place all over the Philippines, but is biggest in the city of Kalibo in
Aklan. Now, technically, it is Christian feast day, but really it's held to
honor the original inhabitants of the island, the Ati. See, when the Malay
chieftans purchased the island from the ati over 600 years ago, they
decided to have a big feast to celebrate.

These days, people wear these huge colorful costumes made from dyed cloth,
straw and paper, wild make-up and many people blacken their skin in honor
of the Ati. Ati-Atihan, literally, means, "to make like the Ati." The drum
beat goes all day and night. People form these impromptu dance halls in
local houses and yards. People come from all over the world to take part.
Think of it as "Carnival East."